Old Machinist
Well-known member
Equipment
Kubota LX3310 cab, JD 4310, NH 575E cab backhoe, JD F725, Swisher 60", etc.
I have had my little Kubota LX3310 cab tractor a little over a year and put almost 140 hours on it. I bought it mainly as an air conditioned lawn mower and it does a great job at that.
Last Fall and recently I removed the mower and delegated some light tractor duties to it. My consensus is it will never replace my John Deere.
Both tractors are in the 30HP range for engine power but the JD is about a thousand pounds heavier. The John Deere is a lot smoother operating AND riding tractor than the Kubota. The Kubota has R14 tires with the rears filled. The JD has turfs that are not filled. I'm about to replace the fronts on the JD with R4s so that will probably make for a rougher ride. It stands to reason the JD has a smoother ride with a longer wheelbase and more weight.
Kubota did perform a "fix as fails" TSB on the LX3310 for jerky transmission and that has helped but it is still more responsive (jerky) than the JD or at least with the JD motion match switch in the rear position where I like it. They may be about the same if I turned the optional JD motion match in the more responsive mode.
Another reason the JD is smoother is I upgraded the loader cylinders to 2x18 generic size which gave it more hydraulic power but also slowed it's response time down. I like it the way it is. I also changed out the seat and installed a captains chair from a van on it. The Kubota loader is jerky to operate. I can foresee it getting larger cylinders if I can make them fit.
The JD has another option called Load Match. When you turn it on you absolutely cannot bog the tractor down. It may cease to move forward but the engine won't shut off like it will if you overload it with load match turned off or like any other tractor will do if you exceed it's power and traction. I've not bogged the Kubota down but it is so light it will just start to spin the tires. The rear tires on the Kubota are filled and the JD tires are not.
I put them both to good use but if I only had one tractor it would be a cabbed 4 series JD.
Last Fall and recently I removed the mower and delegated some light tractor duties to it. My consensus is it will never replace my John Deere.
Both tractors are in the 30HP range for engine power but the JD is about a thousand pounds heavier. The John Deere is a lot smoother operating AND riding tractor than the Kubota. The Kubota has R14 tires with the rears filled. The JD has turfs that are not filled. I'm about to replace the fronts on the JD with R4s so that will probably make for a rougher ride. It stands to reason the JD has a smoother ride with a longer wheelbase and more weight.
Kubota did perform a "fix as fails" TSB on the LX3310 for jerky transmission and that has helped but it is still more responsive (jerky) than the JD or at least with the JD motion match switch in the rear position where I like it. They may be about the same if I turned the optional JD motion match in the more responsive mode.
Another reason the JD is smoother is I upgraded the loader cylinders to 2x18 generic size which gave it more hydraulic power but also slowed it's response time down. I like it the way it is. I also changed out the seat and installed a captains chair from a van on it. The Kubota loader is jerky to operate. I can foresee it getting larger cylinders if I can make them fit.
The JD has another option called Load Match. When you turn it on you absolutely cannot bog the tractor down. It may cease to move forward but the engine won't shut off like it will if you overload it with load match turned off or like any other tractor will do if you exceed it's power and traction. I've not bogged the Kubota down but it is so light it will just start to spin the tires. The rear tires on the Kubota are filled and the JD tires are not.
I put them both to good use but if I only had one tractor it would be a cabbed 4 series JD.
